The world was set in a simple way. Some say that the Gods were too lazy and some say that was just how it was supposed to be. From the very beginning of time, the world was surrounded by an almost circular mountain range that rose high up above the clouds.

This world was populated by three noble races; Dwarves, Elves, and Humans. But our story isn’t your typical human one, this story starts in the dwarven mines. Our main characters in this story are two dwarves; one is an arrogant master on top of the world and the other is a young female dwarf who was just about to discover the pride… of her own race.

“Who dare set foot in my home!” A domineering voice busted out from the inside of a wooden house hung on a mountainside.

On a rainy dark night, when everyone was already asleep, one old dwarf; heightened to his senses, felt someone just outside of his doorstep.

With his loud yell, the thing outside of his door immediately started to run. In an instant, the dwarf immediately appeared before this person, he picked the dwarf up and looked at her face.

“Hmph! Do you know the price of setting foot in the king’s home? Child!” Lightning struck the ground. The weather got far worse.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know where I was! I was just trying to find shelter! I’m not a racoon!”

“Tsk!” The dwarf sighed and wiped his face hand. The rain around the man stopped, or more like a barrier was placed around the dwarf, as the rain bounced just a meter above his head.

“You should be thankful that you are a dwarf little girl. If you were any other, I would have eaten right here, right now.” He said calmly.

It wasn’t obvious due to her clothes that were already wet from the rain, but at that moment, her pants were filled with a different type of liquid.

***

Now, that was a short and very cliche meeting. A man meeting someone in front of their house on a rainy night, just how much have you heard of such a story? Well, that’s just life, people always say it’s a cliche. But I differ, for me, there is only one reason stories start at such a popular start, it’s because the only people who get the start of their life recorded… are heroes.

Two years passed since the central meeting.

“Father! Look! I crafted my first artifact!” Said Daranda as she burst open the door into his father’s room.

“Get the fuck out of my face you imbecile! If you think my weapons only amount to this! Go to a fucking pub get your mind drunk!”

A young dwarf ran past Daranda with his hands filled with copper coins.

“Dad…” She said, scared to her bones.

“Oh, Daranda! I’m sorry you had to see your father like that. Hahaha!”

“Why are you always so mean.”

“I’m not mean! What are you saying huh!” He leaned back.

“You just yelled to that boy’s ears.”

“It’s because those shitheads try to buy my shit for copper coins. What is this a charity?”

“But… couldn’t you give what I made?”

“Oh, honey.” The man kneeled and caressed her daughter’s hair. “Did you forget what I told you?”

“No…”

“Then, you should know why right?”

“But-”

“No buts, always remember Daranda. You are a dwarf, your creations are your child. Don’t treat them like they amount to such things as free. So… now what does my little girl have for me.” He smiled.

“Look! I finally made an artifact!” She had already forgotten what had just happened. She waved her hands holding onto her hand-sized gold coin.

“Oh! What does it do?” He politely asked.

“It makes money!”

“What?”

The girl shook the coin in her hand and gold fell to the ground. The man picked up the multiple pieces that continuously fell as he bit it.

“Give it to me!” He immediately took the artifact from his daughter’s hands. “How did you make this?” The man was left speechless.

“I just followed what one of the books on your shelf said.”

The Legacy Artifacts!!! The man stood up and carried his daughter up. “My little girl, you… are the talent this world needs!” He said with a huge smile.

***

Time passed, okay by the time you’ve reached this, you ask, why are there so many time skips, let me see how things turn out… but you already know what happens. Didn’t I say, if a story is cliche, it’s because it’s the story of a hero?

Daranda, is the adaptive daughter of one of the “Three Masters”, the king of metals. She was just around 11 years old when she first met this father of hers. Kalekan, the Master Of Iron, is an arrogant man, just like every dwarf, who prides himself on his items. But this man was different than the others for one simple thing… he had never left the mountain where he lives for more than a decade.

“How many times should I tell you this!” He smacked his daughter.

“But I want to go out!” She yelled back.

“I told you no! You will go out the day I die!”

“My artifacts will stay by my side and I will never ever sell them!”

“That’s not what I’m trying to say!” He smacked her again.

“Ow! That hurts so much!” She pouted. With her arms crossed she turned around and walked out of the forge. Her anger released on the loud bang of the door.

“Ha…” He sighed. Kalekan took a chair from the side and sat with his body falling down.

“Why can’t she just understand…”

***

“Always smacking me. Not even letting me get out of the house. I may not have anyone outside but I still wanna go outside!” She pouted. Her hands scavaged around her messy room. She took a ragged bag somewhere on the pile of her bed and packed as many clothes as she could.

“If you won’t let me go out, then I will go out myself… then… the world would know the name of Daranda! The genius blacksmith!” She yelled at the top of her lungs.

“Are you trying to run away!” Kalekan broke down the door and busted inside with his hammer in hand.

“What~” She immediately threw the bag as it mixed along her messy room. Despite the problems the room presented, it was as unorganized as it was actually a help for her.

“You think I wouldn’t just hear you yell? You think we are in some fantasy!” He smacked her head again.

And on that day, Daranda’s many voyages of failed escapes started. Of course, she never really succeeded. But her dream of going out will present itself someday, whether she wants to continue it or not is up to her.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

***

“Get out of my face and take your crap to the garbage!” Kalekan was a loving parent. He did everything for his daughter and taught her everything he knew. To a degree, he really was a loving and caring father. But to his customers, he was the opposite.

“Never show your face here again!” He threw a piece of copper to the head of the dwarf.

“Ughh, bastards, you really think you can rip me off.”

As much as these constant customers who are people that you couldn’t even recognize that kept appearing on the doorstep of one of three masters is a weird occurrence. It really wasn’t.

Kalekan was the “Master of Iron” but there was another name for that person, “The Mysterious Blacksmith”. To put it simply, no one knew of the identity of the man.

He lived in one of the rich cities of the dwarven kingdom, it’s much better than hiding in a faraway village, as the best hiding spot is always open. Just like every other dwarven house, most of them hung at the side of the mountain, with only some stone floor and 80 percent of wood and metal that supported their weight.

Kalekan’s identity was just a normal blacksmith who is famous for being an arrogant piece of shit. Of course, a lot of blacksmiths are arrogant, dwarves are known to be an arrogant species in the first place. But Kalekan’s arrogancy was different, his store, despite hiding his identity, sells at a very high price that really reveals his identity if you look at it closely.

“Kalekan.” A dwarf entered the door with an alluring smile.

Kalekan’s eyes widened and his back bounced back. He immediately stood up from the sofa and kneeled on the floor. “I greet the fated prince!”

“Whoah! Relax! Don’t yell too loud, if I was any late on my magic, my identity would be revealed instantly.” The man claimed with his hand raised to the sky.

“My apologies, I was just shocked at seeing you here, fated prince.”

“No need to say ‘fated’, just call me my name, stand up.”

“I wouldn’t dare do such a thing, I would just call you prince from now on, prince.”

“Ok, ok.” He bounced his hands. “Just stand up, it’s embarrassing me.”

The prince walked up to the sofa and sat in front of Kalekan.

“So what does the prince want from an old man like me.”

The prince closed his eyes and inhaled back. With this small mannerism, Kalekan’s thoughts had wandered to the worst, it seemed like his life, after years of freedom, had once again been threatened.

“Is it the humans, prince?”

The prince exhaled, pressed his shoulders to the desk, and laid his head above his palms.

“No, it’s far worse.” The prince replied.

Kalekan’s heart stopped for a second. “Did the others do something?”

“Sir Kalekan, don’t worry but infighting is something that only happens to others, something far worse than war or inside conflict has happened while you are in retirement.”

Kalekan’s heart sank for real at that moment. He was already an old man, a dwarf may live past 100 years but he was already past that, if something worse than what he had even thought of had happened, what could that thing even be?

“Then… what is… it… prince.” His words shook, with a gulp that drained his throat came after.

“Demons.” The prince replied with one word that…

“What?” Every tension on his body disappeared as a word he had never heard of was said.

“You may not know what demons are, but a new species has appeared on our land, and they call themselves demons.”

“So are you telling me a war with another species is happening?”

“Yes.”

“Then why are you acting like it’s worse than the humans, just how terrifying are these so-called demons.”

“It will be hard to really explain, but there is an easy way that you could understand.”

“...” Kalekan gulped.

“One of the ten divine weapons was broken while fighting the demons.”

Kalekan’s eyes widened and his breath took a halt. His eyes went blurry.

“Sir Kalekan!” The words shook in his mind. Kalekan’s mind spun, his body circled until he fell to the ground, and he fainted.

***

The Ten Divine Weapons. Excluding the word “Divine” it’s not actually a weapon influenced by some God. But they are weapons that have existed since ancient times.

Four Divine Weapons were in the hands of the dwarves, another four were in the hands of the humans, and the last two, the strongest of the ten were held by the elves. Though in that situation the two races knew the elves, like always, would never really go out of their forest, always excluded from the world’s affairs.

Even with the power of the “Three Masters” known as the best blacksmiths in the entire world, they could never imitate something close to the Ten Divine Weapons, that’s just how strong they were.

Now, if you hear that something that has been passed down for thousand of years like they were a God themselves just gets destroyed by the hands of some person, who wouldn’t freak out?

“Ahh! What happened!” Kalekan straightened up from his bed.

“Father!”

“You fainted, sir Kalekan.”

“Are you okay? Father? What happened?”

“Was what you said really true?”

“Father!” She shrugged his clothes.

“Yes.”

“...” Kalekan was left speechless until-

“Father!”

He immediately turned to his daughter and stared at her.

“Are you okay!” Tears dripped from her eyes.

“Daranda…”

She slapped her father immediately. “What are you being so sentimental at! I was just asking a simple question!”

“Hahaha!” The prince laughed.

“Sorry… I was just surprised at the situation.”

“What situation?”

“Daranda… you are this world’s future.”